After years of being harassed by the purple people beaters, one company has finally said ENOUGH.

In a press release issued Thursday, Sodexo USA announced that the company has filed a civil lawsuit against the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) under the Racketeering Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act., accusing the union of engaging in an “illegal campaign of extortion.” The lawsuit representing Sodexo is Hunton & Williams – the same firm SEIU and its allies have accused of launching a “dirty tricks” campaign against them in retaliation for their anti-Chamber of Commerce campaigns.

One of the largest food services and facilities management companies in the world, Sodexo is the provider of choice for most schools, universities, companies, hotels, prisons and other facilities that outsource their cafeteria and food catering operations, and for those that outsource industrial cleaning services. SEIU has been incessantly battering Sodexo since 2007, in its desire to unionize some of its nearly 400,000 employees, many of them hotel and food service workers. Exacerbating the tensions was a longstanding turf war between SEIU and UNITE HERE over hotel and casino workers, which often spilled over into SEIU’s antics prior to the settlement the warring unions reached this past summer.

Sodexo USA has filed the lawsuit in an attempt to halt the over-the-top harassment from SEIU, alleging that many of the acts are very serious and outside of the normal realm of union tactics, including acts of ” SEIU blackmail, vandalism, trespass, harassment, and lobbying law violations designed to steer business away from Sodexo USA and harm the company.” [emphasis added]

Aside from some of its usual corporate smear campaign tactics, certain organizers in the SEIU subscribed to some especially nasty, and frankly repulsive, tactics:

The complaint alleges that the SEIU, in face to face meetings, threatened Sodexo USA’s executives that it would harm Sodexo USA’s business unless they gave in to the union, and then carried out its threats through egregious behavior, including:

throwing plastic roaches onto food being served by Sodexo USA at a high profile event;

During a pro-union rally at Colorado’s State Capitol yesterday, some alleged SEIU union supporters got into a shouting match with a black Tea Partier. But the conversation wasn’t just a loud, heated exchange. It got very personal when two union supporters ganged up on the conservative, one of them calling him “uneducated” and another asking him if he has any children “that he claims”.

According to RedWhiteBlueNews.com, the woman in red was later asked what she meant by her comments about the man’s children. “She said the black conservative was such a ‘free spirit’ that she assumed he would possibly not own up to the responsibility of being a father,” the site says.

Notice how the SEIU protester calls the Black conservative “uneducated” while also claiming he is “emmoral”… The only uneducated person in the video clip above is the SEIU protester. It’s pronounced “immoral” by the way.

Typical and classless.

*UPDATE* – February 23, 2011 – 1:23 PM.

The same group of protesters, who called the Black conservative “educated”, chanted “U-S-A” while waving a Mexican flag:

The Grand Rapids Education Association, a local affiliate of Michigan’s largest teachers’ union, is attempting to pick off one-by-one 90-some members that have refused to pay their dues.

About 18 months ago, the school board voted to no longer deduct dues from employees’ paychecks, which meant union members had to physically write a check to the union. Many saw it as their opportunity to protest the obnoxious behavior of union leaders during a previous contract negotiation period. The union president, Paul Helder, was particularly pompous during negotiations, claiming the union was fighting a “war on terrorism.” He even established “War Time Committees” to organize the fight against the school board and administrators.

The judge, citing the fact that Michigan is not a right-to-work state, ruled she has to fork over the money, regardless of whether or not the union is representing her interests.

Let that marinate for a bit – because of current Michigan law, the union has the right to take a school employee to court and extract money out of her. Isn’t that grand?

If there is ever an opportunity to make Michigan a right-to-work state, this is it.

As a Michigander, this news story hits home for me. For decades, Michigan has suffered from greedy and corrupt organized labor unions, including the Michigan Education Association (MEA). Unfortunately, as mentioned in the article above, Michigan is not a Right-to-Work state and union members can be forced to surrender their hard earned money to corrupt organized labor unions that do not represent their best interests.

I am a strong proponent of Right-to-Work and hope that with our new Republican governor and state legislature we can get something done that will loosen the death grip that organized labor unions have on private and public sector workers.

As for Marjorie Hayward’s case, hopefully this ruling will open the door for the teachers to file a class-action lawsuit against the union. After all, it’s quite clear that the union did not represent their best interests.

Answer: They are putting children’s lives at risk so they can demand an expansion of nursing positions in schools.

Nowadays, the question needs to be asked: Who’s really on the side of the children? Hint: Not the unions and never let them tell you any different! The video (posted above) from Reason TV is just another example of how big-labor is crippling our country:

Epilepsy advocates like the Epilepsy Foundation and physicians groups like the California Medical Association have lined up to support the bill. Unions representing teachers, nurses, and other public employees have lined up in opposition, claiming the bill would put children in danger. Their solution: hire more school nurses.

“The unions are not on the side of the kids,” says DeLorenzo who believes unions are more interested in expanding their ranks than protecting epileptic children.

“It’s exactly the opposite,” says Gayle McClean, southern section president of the California School Nurses Organization and a member of the California Teachers Association. “We care deeply for children and we want them to receive the most appropriate care and that means they need a licensed medical person caring for them.”

Sacramento lawmakers sided with unions and have refused to bring the bill up for a vote. The bill will officially expire on August 31.

Remember, the FDA signed off on the use of Diastat and the syringe by non-medical personnel with just a little training. Protecting union jobs rather than saving epileptic children? This is absolutely appalling, but unfortunately it’s not surprising to me at all either. The State of California is overrun with governmental idiocy from the Left and big-labor unions (like theCalifornia Teachers Association) stuff their Democratic candidates’ pockets faster than a bank robber inside a vault when it comes to their campaigns.

Oh well… In the end, it’s just a matter of life and death. No biggie! 🙄